Saved, Sanctified, &

SentMatthew 3:16

Adapted from a Davon Huss sermonhttp://www.sermoncentral.com/

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Matthew 3:13 NET Then Jesus came from Galilee to John to be baptized by him in the Jordan River. 14 But John

tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you come to me?" 15 So Jesus replied to him, "Let it happen now, for it is right for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then John yielded to

him.

16 After Jesus was baptized, just as he was coming up out of the water, the

heavens opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming

on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my one dear Son; in him I

take great delight.”In our study of the 3:16’s of the Bible, we come to Jesus’ baptism. Lots of debate

about baptism. It is a controversial issue. However, we need to get back to

the Biblical view.

One lady wanted to know what she would feel when she was baptized.

Minister didn’t know how to answer, varied responses. When he put her

under, her body stiffened and her eyes popped open. The look on her face was a mixture of excitement and surprise. And all he could think was "Hey, Lord,

How come I didn’t get that!"

As he pulled her up from the water, she put her hand on the back of her head;

only then did he realize what had happened. He had moved toward one

end of the baptistery, and when he had lowered her into the water, he had

smacked the back of her head onto the baptistery steps!

John’s baptism was a resolution to begin anew. Forsake sins. As they were

baptized they were confessing their sins.

Matthew 3:5 NET Then people from Jerusalem, as well as all Judea and all

the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 6 and he was

baptizing them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.

Baptism is about beginning anew

They heard John preach on sin and wanted to make a change so they came

and were baptized of John in the Jordan. We make a resolution to change and we seal it in baptism and God comes and

gives us a new life.Romans 6:3 NET Or do you not know

that as many as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his

death?

4 Therefore we have been buried with him through baptism into death, in order

that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so

we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have become united with him in the

likeness of his death, we will certainly also be united in the likeness of his

resurrection.

6 We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we

would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 (For someone who has died has been freed from sin.) 8 Now if we died with

Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.

9 We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going

to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 For the death he

died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you

too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NET So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

what is old has passed away — look, what is new has come!

It is like a dry erase board. We draw

horrible things on this board and God comes along through faith in baptism

and erases those horrible things so that we can begin anew.

Two different ways that people view baptism in the church:

1. Baptism is the saving moment in which the person being baptized accepts

the love and forgiveness of God. This person is saved. May grow in faith

through the years, but nothing that this person will experience after their

baptism is as important as the baptism.

This person will always be able to recall their baptism as the time when their life was changed. We have no problem with

this. However, this approach views baptism as the climax of a life and anything after the climax is not as

important.

2. Next view does not disagree with this but just adds more to it. Baptism is the

time of God’s love and forgiveness upon a soul. Baptism is a time of change. However, where the first approach

isolates the act of baptism as the most important moment, the second approach

understands baptism more as a beginning.

While it is true that in the waters of baptism God laid claim on our lives, it is also true that we spend the rest of our

lives trying to figure out what that means. The first understanding often

overlooks the journey that follows baptism. Baptism is the beginning of the

journey and the climax of a life, of a soul, is when we reach the end of the journey and when we stand before the throne and Jesus Christ saves us on

that day.

This is the climax. Baptism is not the climax but only the beginning of a great

journey of faith.

Baptism too frequently carries the connotation of having arrived. People

say, "I want to be baptized and be a part of the church as soon as I get my life in

order."

Of course, if that is what any of us are waiting on, we will never be baptized.

None of us will ever have our lives sufficiently in order to be baptized.

Baptism is not something we earn, nor is it a sign that we have found all the

answers. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Baptism is a beginning. It is the desire to see the world differently, to see each

other differently, and even to see ourselves differently. Baptism is a fresh start, not a destination. Baptism is not a

trial-free membership, but a rite of initiation into a way of life in which

Jesus promised there would be trials.

Baptism is like the gun that goes off at the beginning of a race. Until the gun goes off we cannot begin the contest.

Baptism is just the beginning of a pilgrimage, or a quest to understand God and understand the gospel and

apply these things to our lives.

We see this in the life of Jesus. Right after his baptism, he is lead into the

desert and after 40 days the devil comes and tempts him. Baptism for him was just the beginning of a long and hard

journey not the end. If it was the end or if Jesus had arrived, then the devil would

not have tempted him for the most important event had already happened.

Plan of salvation. Hear, believe, repent, confess, and be baptized. That’s it. No that is not it. However, we have to start the journey & we cannot start without

baptism. After re-birth through baptism & starting the journey to eternity, growth

& progression is essential! We don’t want to remain an infant in Christ.

Hebrews 5:12 NET For though you should in fact be teachers by this time,

you need someone to teach you the beginning elements of God's utterances. You have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who lives on milk is inexperienced in the message of righteousness, because he is an infant.

14 But solid food is for the mature, whose perceptions are trained by

practice to discern both good and evil.

6:1 Therefore we must progress beyond the elementary instructions about Christ and move on to maturity, not laying this foundation again: repentance from dead works and faith in God, 2 teaching about

baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal

judgment. 3 And this is what we intend to do, if God permits.

1 Corinthians 3:1 NET So, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as

spiritual people, but instead as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet

ready. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 for you are still influenced by the flesh.

For since there is still jealousy and dissension among you, are you not

influenced by the flesh and behaving like unregenerate people?

Hebrews portrays our Christian journey as a race set out for us. We are to run this race…keeping our eyes fixed on

Jesus. Again, baptism is the firing of the starter’s pistol to begin the race.

Hebrews 12:1 NET Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of

witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out

for us,

2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the

cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the

throne of God.Paul portrays the Christian journey as a race in 1 Corinthians 9. In Philippians he

kind of gives the same idea of striving for the finish line, that being the goal & the prize of the upward call of God in

Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:10 NET My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his

resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, 11 and

so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I

have already attained this — that is, I have not already been perfected — but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ

Jesus also laid hold of me.

13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this.

Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, 14 with

this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ

Jesus. We’ll never reach the prize which is

awarded at the finish line if we never get out of the starting blocks!

When John was baptizing, it was just the Jewish believers who came out. Praise God that we Gentiles are now

included.Where did John get the idea to

baptize? Of course from God! Various regulations from the Old Testament command that a person be washed

with water and only after this will they be ceremonially clean.

The second part of baptism is the good news that we have been included.

Many Gentiles wanted to be part of the Jewish faith and so the priests

commanded that the Gentile men be circumcised and both the women and men observe a ceremonial washing, a baptism to make them ceremonially

clean. Then they were part of the Jewish faith. John was foreshadowing that it is

necessary for everyone.

Also, John’s baptism was just a baptism of repentance. There was no assurance

of God forgiving sin; it was just a statement of wanting to change. There also was not promise of God coming into lives and living there through the

Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:11 NET "I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one

coming after me is more powerful than I am — I am not worthy to carry his

sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Jesus baptism foreshadows our own. We come with repentance and when we

are washed in baptism God forgives our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit

is given to us.

On the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:37 NET Now when they heard

this, they were acutely distressed and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "What should we do,

brothers?" 38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and each one of you be

baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 For the promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far away, as

many as the Lord our God will call to himself.” 40 With many other words he

testified and exhorted them saying, “Save yourselves from this perverse

generation!” 41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day

about three thousand people were added.

In baptism you receive forgiveness of your sins in order to Save yourselves

from this perverse generation.

Why was Jesus baptized? He had no sin. To fulfill all righteousness: To be

consecrated to God and approved by God. Identification with human sin and

identification of himself with the movement toward God. To be an

example to his followers. No one is excluded. For all have sinned and fallen

short. Jesus did not sin, but He is the great example for us.

Jesus’ baptism was the public announcement of the arrival of the Messiah and the beginning of his

ministry. It is the same way with us.

Why do some say, “I do not want to be baptized.” If you are a follower of Jesus,

you better be baptized.

I like what one preacher said, "Baptism is a sign that all of us have screwed up and that all of us are on the same plane. No one better than any other. Men come in with Armoni Suits and when they are baptized they wear just a simple robe. Women come in with $100 hairdos and

they come out with a mess just like everybody else.”

Baptism is to be a source of unity. Mankind has screwed it up.

Through baptism we are sanctified.1 Corinthians 1:1 NET From Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the

will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother, 2 to the church of God that is in Corinth,

to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, and called to be saints, with all those in every place who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their

Lord and ours.

1 Corinthians 6:9 NET Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived!

The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, passive homosexual

partners, practicing homosexuals, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, the

verbally abusive, and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God.

11 Some of you once lived this way. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the

Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Sanctified - hagiazo Thayer Definition:

1) to render or acknowledge, or to be venerable or hallow2) to separate from profane things and dedicate to God3) to purify

The preacher is expected to preach the sermons, call on guests and the sick,

and do the work of the ministry. We pay him to be good and to do the work of

the church. How messed up this thinking really is.

Most Preachers are ordained. Ordained: to appoint somebody

officially as a priest, minister, or rabbi. (Encarta)

The third part of baptism is ordination

This seems to be the common understanding of ordained. We find elders and deacons are ordained,

appointed, selected. The same word is used in both these verses.

Titus 1:5 NET The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining

matters and to appoint (KJV ordain) elders in every town, as I directed you.

Acts 6:3 NET But carefully select from among you, brothers, seven men who

are well-attested, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of

this necessary task.

Jesus appointed, ordained the 12 Apostles & Paul as a preacher and

apostle. A different Greek word is used here.

1 Timothy 2:7 NET For this I was appointed (KJV ordained) a preacher

and apostle — I am telling the truth; I am not lying — and a teacher of the Gentiles

in faith and truth.

Most Christians don’t realize those aren’t the only ones ordained. Why?

Because all of us have been ordained. What do you mean all of us have been ordained? We have not been approved by some group of people to preach and

teach and to work in the ministry. Neither was Jesus but he was ordained.

When we are baptized this is the ordination service for us all to go out

and minister.

We are authorized by God Almighty and Jesus Christ to go out and to minister.

Minister = one who executes the commands of another, especially of a

master, a servant, attendant We all serve as agents for Jesus Christ.

Jesus is our Savior and Lord. We are his. Therefore, we are serving as an

agent for Jesus Christ to help others.

1 Timothy 4:6 NET By pointing out such things to the brothers and sisters, you

will be a good servant (KJV minister) of Christ Jesus, having nourished yourself on the words of the faith and of the good

teaching that you have followed.servant - minister: diakonos

Thayer Definition:1) one who executes the commands of

another, especially of a master, a servant, attendant, minister

Romans 12:7 NET If it is service, (KJV ministry) he must serve; (KJV let us wait on our ministering) if it is teaching, he

must teach;service, ministry - diakonia

Thayer Definition:1) service, ministering, especially of those who execute the commands of

others2) of those who by the command of God proclaim and promote religion among

men

1 Corinthians 4:1 NET One should think about us this way — as servants (KJV

ministers) of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Servants, ministers - huperetes Thayer Definition:

1) servant1a) an underrower, subordinate rower1b) any one who serves with hands: a servant1c) any one who aids another in any work

Priest = Person who served in the temple. We are the temples of the Holy

Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19 NET Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the

Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your

own?

1 Peter 2:5 NET you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house

to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to

God through Jesus Christ.

What are our holy orders? Go and make disciples of all nations… This is for

everyone.

Matthew 28:19 NET Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to obey everything I have

commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

Mark 16:15 NET He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel

to every creature. 16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved,

but the one who does not believe will be condemned.

When you’re baptized you will receive

the gift of the Holy Spirit.1 Corinthians 12:7 NET To each person the manifestation of the Spirit is given

for the benefit of all.

1 Corinthians 12:13 NET For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.

Whether Jews or Greeks or slaves or free, we were all made to drink of the

one Spirit. If you are a baptized believer you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God is living within you. How will you use this gift of the Spirit for the Kingdom? You have been sent to minister, serve, The

Lord in some area of your life!

We get this confused. The preacher is ordained. No, we all are ordained at our

baptism. In the Bible didn’t they pray over people and ordain them for the

work of the ministry. Paul and Barnabas, Timothy, others. Yes, they did but this was not called an ordination service.

They were set apart for a specific service. Missionaries, elders,

evangelists, etc. However, they were not ordained because all of us are ordained.

An “Ordained” Minister has no special grace or privileges above you. He is a

sinner saved by grace. There is no mention of clergy and laity in the church.

All are one in Christ Jesus. We are saved, sanctified, and sent at our

baptism. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my one dear Son; in him I

take great delight." I take great delight. Is the Lord delighted

with your ministry?

Without Jesus Christ, baptism makes no sense.

Jesus’ Death, burial and resurrection are portrayed in baptism.

Do you need to be saved, sanctified and sent today?